CfA : Position as Postdoctoral Researcher

April 17 08:00

Reference number: F-0120

Salary Scale: EG 13 TV-L (Full Time)

Up to 3 years from 01.10.2020

Centre Marc Bloch e.V. (CMB) is the Franco-German Research Centre for the Humanities and Social Sciences in Berlin, an affiliated institute of the Humboldt University of Berlin, with an interdisciplinary and internationally oriented profile. Since its foundation in 1992, Centre Marc Bloch has been a model institute for European research cooperation. It has devoted itself to the transformation of European societies and the position of Europe in the world in various lines of research. Its research focuses on 1. State, Law and Political Conflict, 2. Mobility, Migration and Spatial Reorganisation, 3. Dynamics and Experiences of Globalisation and 4. Critical Thinking in the Plural. (https://cmb.hu-berlin.de/en/research/research-focuses/)

Centre Marc Bloch e.V. is opening a position for a postdoctoral researcher who focus on economic economic and sociological impacts of ICT-related industries. The contract would ideally start on October 1st, 2020 and may cover a maximal period of three years.

Individual research topics could cover the whole field, but a project in one of the four following research directions would be particularly welcome:

- ICT-mediated job markets: Platform-mediated job markets have disrupted classical work offer and demand mechanisms, in particular regarding the ready availability of workers for on-demand tasks (e.g., micro-tasks as exemplified by Amazon's Mechanical Turk, or recurrent day laborers such as taxi drivers or delivery people). We welcome applications aimed at understanding the effects of these new markets, especially from an organizational viewpoint (e.g. further individualization or fragmentation of the workforce).

- Local markets: The economic significance of online platforms and ICT giants is often discussed in global terms, especially with respect to industrial relocation and international tax optimization. This industry also relies on local workers, either high-skilled IT jobs (coders, designers) or low-skilled manual work (such as delivery, driving, concierge activities) – both strongly transformative forces on local job and housing markets. Research on the corresponding urban socio-economic dynamics is welcome for this position.

- Work automation and algorithmic management : Automation is a recurring topic in the study of the impact of ICT on work forms, yet it appears to have recently reached a new layer of job types, increasingly infringing on management-related activities. Applications focusing on the contemporary impact of automation as a whole, and in particular automation of management, are welcome, especially in traditional organizations (i.e., beyond the specific case of ICT-intensive companies where algorithmic management is a defining feature, such as Uber or Deliveroo).

- Emergence of consumers-producers : Many online platforms rely on the activity of a large number of users who contribute to produce, curate or share data that ultimately benefits the hosting company. Applicants may focus on the economic impact and dynamics of these new wealth creation processes, which blur the border between users and workers and where data is an integral part of the business model and added value.

Expected profile :

PhD in economy or sociology or in other related disciplines

experience in interdisciplinary research collaborations

international academic experience

A good command of French or German would be a plus due to the bilingual structure of CMB.

As an equal opportunities employer, CMB intends to promote women and men in the context of statutory requirements. For this reason suitably qualified women are specifically invited to apply. Equally qualified applicants with disabilities will be given preferential treatment.

Application Procedure : To apply please send the following materials as a PDF file by June, 1st, 2020 to bewerbung@cmb.hu-berlin.de which includes:

A brief cover letter

Curriculum vitae

List of publications

A copy of your most recent diploma or transcripts

Project description (no more than 5 pages) Please combine all of your application materials into a single PDF. Applicants may write either in English, French or German; we recommend that they use the language in which they are most proficient.